Light
by Katurz
Summary: [AU] Set around the time of First Class. Erik and Charles have opened up their own school for mutants, however they soon realize that something is trying to destroy their mutant family. They take it upon themselves to recruit new mutants, including one that could change their lives forever.
1. Chapter 1

**New fanfiction that I have already wrote the first three chapters of. This is an AU that takes place around the time of First Class, where Erik and Charles have the school up and running. However, they notice a certain presence trying to attack their school and destroy their mutants. So, they recruit more skilled mutants including Rosa (which this story centers around).**

 **Title is from the song Light by Sleeping at Last; check them out, their music is truly beautiful.**

 **Enjoy!**

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Rosa traced the plastic waist of the barbie doll in her delicate hands. Subsequently, she sighed when she looked at her own body and realized that she still was not as skinny as a barbie. She was sitting on the floor of her one room apartment with her legs crossed in front of her. She wore black stockings and a long sweater that her mother had bought her.

"You look like a bag of bones," her mother had said, "the least you can do is try to look like you have some padding on that body of yours."

Rosa had smiled at the compliment.

A small knock on her door brought her to attention, causing her to drop the barbie doll on the ground. Rosa stood up slowly, or else the all to familiar dizziness would return to her. She strode over to the white wooden door that separated her from the outside world. At the door, she outstretched her long, thin fingers to turn the brass doorknob. Her reflection was distorted in the doorknob but made her feel insecure none the less. She opened the door and revealed two men, one in a brown leather jacket and a black sweater and black pants, the other in a nice two piece suit.

"Rosa Attlee?" the man in the suit said, offering a small smile. Her eyes were absorbed in the other man, who stared at her with the most curious expression.

"Yes, that's me," Rosa said lightly. The man with the brown jacket turned his head downwards, observing her body. She wrapped her arms around her thin waist and tried to hide herself, but it was no use. The man was prying with only his eyes, so Rosa focused on the one talking.

"I'm Charles Xavier," he said, extending his arm to meet Rosa's hand. He winced a bit when their hands connected, after he felt how cold she was. The room was rather warm.

Rosa gestured for the two men to come in. They walked in, one after the other with Charles leading. Both of them observed the messy room, Charles' eyes landing on the barbie in the middle of the floor. The other man finally spoke, "Erik Lensherr," he said. Rosa shook his hand, bidding the same confused reaction at recognizing the temperature of her hand.

"What do you two need?" Rosa asked in a curious voice. She wiped at the light brown hair that covered her neck. The action drew both of the men's eyes to her neck. She insecurely flipped her hair back in front of her.

"We know you're a mutant," Charles said strictly. Rosa licked her lips and furrowed her brow. her dark eyebrows followed the squinting of her eyes.

"Right," She replied in amusement.

Erik smirked at Rosa, lifting the small tele in her room by simply looking at it. He wavered it in front of her, almost mockingly, and then set it back down in its rightful place. Meanwhile, Charles just watched Rosa's reaction. She felt his presence in her head and instantly kicked him out.

"Don't do that again," She warned him. He looked offended.

"Your turn," Erik smiled. Rosa obeyed, allowing her mind to concentrate on their life lifted them slowly from the ground until their heads almost hit the ceiling. Then, she allowed them to float back down until their feet hit the carpet floor carefully. Charles clapped and Rosa allowed myself to preform a small bow.

"Lovely," Erik said, turning his head lightly to the side. She made eye contact with him and kept it for a few seconds, much like how she did when she first saw him outside her door. She studied his sculptured body, wondering why he chose to hide it so well behind his black turtleneck. He looked a bit goofy in clothes from years ago.

"What do you need?" Rosa questioned.

"We would like you to join us, at our humble abode," Charles replied. "We've been searching for mutants all over and well, you popped up on the radar."

"There's nothing here for me," Rosa sighed. Of course, her mother would be just heartbroken with her sudden disappearance, as would her stepfather. With the thought of her family, Rosa also called into question her ex boyfriend who tended to come around from time to time to remind her of her rightful place in this world. As a whore; a good for nothing slut.

"Good, shall we leave?" Erik questioned. The two men exited the room and Rosa followed solemnly, glancing back at her room and whispering a small goodbye to it before following the two men out of the room.

Rosa was shown her room of the large mansion named Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters as soon as they arrived. It had taken a few hours to get there, and Rosa's legs felt cramped after stepping out of the car. Once in her room, she observed the place with her keen eyes. There was a nice bed positioned by some windows, and a dresser for some clothes. The room was small and quaint, with a bookcase next to the door and a chair facing the case. The walls were creme colored, the bedsheets matching. Curtains covered the window, allowing only light rays of the sun to make their way into the room. Rosa had brought nothing with her, so she found it pointless to spend much time dwindling about. Charles had asked her to join him in the dining room for dinner and introductions in twenty minutes, and with twenty minutes to spare, Rosa set off about exploring the castle.

Across the room from her, she heard noises of excited children. It was separated from the rest of the house with a large wooden door, similar to her own that she dared not go near, so Rosa continued on her way. She walked down the hallways, glancing at the woodwork on the delicate walls, tracing patterns with her fingers. It wasn't long before she came across Charles talking with a blonde haired women and a young brown haired male with glasses. They were talking about something regarding another man. They were standing in a sun-lit room with a few couches and tables to accompany the furniture. Rosa disregarded the conversation and turned forward. She came to a dead end eventually and stared at the wall in front of her. The hallway ended in two doors. One of them opened, revealing a tired looking Erik in the same turtleneck as before. Looking past him, Rosa could see that this was his room.

Erik graciously looked over her and straightened the wrinkles in his sweater. Rosa watched curiously.

"What are you doing here?" Erik asked.

"The better question is what are you doing here?" Rosa shot back, defensively.

"This is my room."

"Good excuse," Rosa said, shaking her head, and looking down at her feet. "I was wandering the hallways so I could find my way around in case of an emergency."

Erik nodded. Rosa crossed her arms over her chest. The two both stared at each other in silence for a few minutes before he parted his lips.

"We should get to dinner," Erik said. He walked past Rosa, leading the way. She followed him through the labyrinth of hallways and wondered how she would ever be able to find her way around here. It took a few minutes filled with an awkward silence until they arrived in a large dining hall with copious amounts of food across a table fit to sit tens of peoples. Erik walked away from Rosa, towards the blonde she had seen Charles talking to. The exchanged a few words that ended with both their glances on Rosa's body. More people started to arrive, including Charles himself.

"How does it look Rosa?" Charles asked with enthusiasm. The girl turned around and faced him.

"It's pretty here," she said. The man with the glasses appeared behind him, and eventually ten more mutants arrived in the room with their eyes all on Rosa. Some came in pairs, but they all murmured something about her to one person or another. Eventually, she felt my eyes starting to sting with newly formed tears. So many eyes were on her, looking at her body and say something about it to the person next to them. With pressure building, Rosa found herself leaving the dining room before Charles had even started the feast. She walked quickly away from the concentration of mutant and focused on how to return to her room. However, she only found herself ending up at Erik's room. So, she retraced her steps and passed the room where she saw Charles. Eventually, she made it to her new room. She threw herself inside of it, and collapsed onto her bed in a fit of tears.

They were all looking at her body, her fat, thick body she told herself. Her eyes were forced into the detergent smelling bed spread and she cried into it, feeling just as alone as she did in her own apartment. After a few minutes, she calmed down and crawled to the top of her bed, hugging her knees. She stayed there for a few moments until a soft knock on her door forced her to open her mouth and speak.

"Come in," she beckoned softly to whoever was there. The door opened and Charles appeared, looking distressed.

"What happened?" he asked curiously, closing the heavy wooden door behind him. It closed with a click, and Charles quickly strode over to Rosa. Her wet eyes were still red, so she kept her head facing down.

"There were so many people," she mumbled. "So many people, and they were all looking at me!"

"I'm sure they were just wondering who you were, hence the whole arrangement of the feast. They're teenagers, they're going to pass judgement. It's up to you to prove them wrong."

Rosa made eye contact with Charles. "I've had my share of proving people wrong," she said, remembering the start of her own self hate. "Doesn't end well."

Charles sat carefully on the edge of the bed. When Rosa didn't shift away, he further positioned himself to be closer to her.

"This is different from anything you've ever done," he said lightly. "It's not a matter of weight."

Rosa shifted uncomfortably on the bed after realizing that he knew about her disorder. Charles sighed when he realized what he said.

"My apologies- it was there when I first looked into your mind. Actually, it was there the second time too and it's still there now." His eyes turned a concerning shade. "I don't know what happened when you were a child or a teen, but I'm not going to let you live like this any longer. I know you told me not to do it again, and believe me I truly promise that I will not. Come, eat dinner with us." Charles lightly reached for Rosa's hand. She extended it from her body unsurely, but gripped his warm hand, feeling the warmth radiate to her own. "Your hands are always so cold," Charles chuckled, standing up and then subsequently allowing Rosa so slide off the bed. She was led back to the dining hall by Charles, who constantly looked behind him to make sure that she hadn't run off again.

Everyone at the table was already seated, and there were only two seats left open. One was positioned at the head of the long, narrow table and one was between the familiar looking blonde girl and a girl with jet black hair. Charles left Rosa to find the empty seat while he headed towards the head of the table with Erik on one side, and the brown haired boy on the other. Once Rosa was seated, Charles started his announcement.

"For those of you who don't know, though I'm sure you've all heard the rumors, we are being targeted by unknown forces. While it seems as if everything is fine for now, Erik and myself have taken it upon ourselves to arm the house and the children in it with new mutants. Now, these mutants will either be going to school here or they will be given a job whether it be to teach, to train, etcetera." He paused in his speech to catch his breath. "The first mutant has been located and joins us here today. Rosa, please stand up."

Rosa stood up awkwardly, bumping into the white tablecloth in front of her as she did. The girls around her laughed for a second and then stopped. Rosa twisted her head to observe the crowd. Most of them looked around twenty or thirty, and there were about twenty people all looking at her. Her knees felt as if they were about to buckle, when Charles saved her from saying anything.

"While we're still discussing her role here, her power remains extremely useful. Rosa harnesses the ability to lift and move any living organism, including humans. She will be staying in the teenager hall in room twenty two if any of you need her assistance." Charles moved his hand towards Rosa and she sat down carefully. Her heart dropped dramatically when she realized that teenagers were surrounding her. It dropped more when Charles broadcasted the ability to eat, and hands reached in all different directions to grab at stake, chicken, turkey, rice, beans, bread. Rosa sat still, feeling the bile in her stomach rise. The girl next to her took notice of her empty plate as she was filling her own with mashed potatoes.

"Want some?" she asked in a lavish voice, her warm smile burning through Rosa's cold face.

"No thanks."

"Hey, you're welcome here okay? I'm Raven," the blonde put the bowl of mashed potatoes back down onto the table, and offered Rosa her hand. Rosa shook it.

"Rosa," she mumbled lightly. For a second, Raven smiled at Rosa before reaching for her fork and knife. She cut into her steak, sticking a piece of the delectable meat between her lips before speaking again.

"So you move living things, huh?" she asked, chewing between words. Rosa nodded. "That's awesome! I guess you're sort of like Erik, right? Considering he moves metal."

Rosa offered a peek at Erik, who was in deep conversation with Charles. However, his eyes swiveled to meet her cold ones after a few moments. Rosa broke the stare and returned to her conversation with Raven.

"What's your power?" she asked.

Raven shoved another piece of the cow into her mouth, chewing slowly this time. "I can basically transform myself into any person," she said. Rosa placed her arms in her lap, when suddenly Raven's clear complexion turned from stark white to a dark blue. Scales lined her body and her clothes disappeared. Her hair turned a sheer red, and went down to her shoulders.

"Awesome," Rosa replied, offering a smile. Raven nodded.

"I mean yeah, it's cool but this stinks," she gestured towards herself as she switched her body back to her previous one. Rosa felt a sense of comfort when realizing that Raven also felt uncomfortable in her true body. For the rest of dinner, she continued to watch over all the mutants while they ate and conversed with each other. Some of them had abnormal deformities to their body, while some remained looking much like a normal human. Everything changes once you dig into genes, and it interested Rosa. For a while, she stared at her empty plate until she noticed people leaving the table. It had been an hour since she first sat down, and it seemed as if dinner was over. Most people left their plates on the table so she did the same, and stood up in order to get back to her bedroom of solidarity with a side of teenage excitement.

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 **The end of chapter 1! I hope you liked it, if you do don't forget to follow, favorite, review, anything to let me know you enjoyed it. It helps me write more and then you get to read more.**

 **So sorry about the slow start, next chapter will be a bit slow save for a surprise twist at the ending and then it should kick up into the main story line. Thanks for reading.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Sorry for mistakes, haven't fully went through and nitpicked through every word but I hope you enjoy nonetheless.**

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Rosa took off her sweater and stockings before retiring into her new bed. Wearing nothing but her bra and underwear, she cupped her hands around her waist and squished, feeling the fat roll over her fingers as they morphed into her body. She exhaled and reached for her bed covers when she heard a crash in the hallway. Her fingers froze inches above her bedsheets when she heard another crash. She jumped in her feet, and quickly hurried to reassemble her clothes onto her bare body.

Rosa exited her lit bedroom and found herself in a dark hallway. She rubbed at her tired eyes and heard the kids in the room across the hallway laugh multiple times with a proceeding crash that bid them to laugh more. She breathed unevenly, aware of how little sleep she would be getting these nights. Less than six hours of sleep can only make you hungrier…

Instead of returning to her room where the noise would only wake her again, Rosa decided to try and find a nice living room with a couch in order to rest her head. She noticed by now that most of the house had alarm clocks on end tables, and figured she would use one to wake her up. In order to not be found in her new sleeping place, Rosa travelled the premises for hours until she came upon a sunroom that lay far off away from any other room. The room was plain and besides the long white chair that lay underneath a skylight , there was nothing but a carpet and a small table of books. Windows surrounded the room in an octagon fashion. The small white chaise lounger lay directly under the moonlight. A blanket was thrown over the back of it. Rosa grabbed it with her small hands, feeling the soft fabric it was made out of. She kept her clothes on as she walked to the front of the couch and lay down on it. The fabric was brought across her body, reaching just below her feet up to her neck. She nuzzled a circular pillow. Since there was no alarm clock, Rosa fated herself to being awoken by someone, if anyone found her here. For minutes she contemplated the day and its events until she found her eyes closing slowly, and the gears in her mind bid her to sleep.

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Sunlight on Rosa's carefully sculpted face pricked her awake in the early morning. She heard a soft tweet of birds outside, hustling along about the lively trees and bushes that surrounded the house. She groaned lightly, stretching her arms above her head and closing her eyes. She brought her arms back to her side and listened. There were footsteps to her right, which the head of the chaise lounger blocked her from seeing. Slowly, Rosa peered over the side to see a man in a black turtleneck glancing out of a window.

"You've been sleeping here all night, instead of in your bedroom," the man said. He turned around. Erik walked towards Rosa as she sat up slowly, still covering herself with the cover on top of her.

"It was noisy in my room," she said weakly. Erik appeared in front of her with his arms crossed in front of his body, and took a deep breath.

"If the kids across from you are bothering you, you can walk in there and tell them to be quiet. You have authority over them. Should they not listen, you can come to me or Charles." Erik's face was stern. "We gave you a bedroom for a reason, you might as well use it." Guilt flooded through Rosa's veins as she stared at Erik's cold, strict eyes.

"Why are you here?" Rosa asked lightly, the question suddenly popping into her head.

"This is my private area," Erik muttered, "I could not sleep either, Raven and Charles were too loud while having fun in his room. I figured I would come in here and read, but you were here."

"I'm sorry."

"It's okay, I enjoyed watching you fidget in your sleep," he said smirking. Rosa stuttered, Erik simply waved away her attempt at talking. "You had nothing for dinner last night, you should go grab some breakfast from the kitchen before classes and training start."

Rosa thought nothing of the fact that Erik was paying attention to her eating and stood up gingerly. "I think I'm just going to lay down in my room, get some food later."

Erik watched her curiously as Rosa passed him on her way out of the room. He had no doubt that she would soon get lost in the house without his help. Regardless, he grinned at the the though and walked over to the lounger where he sat down, grabbed a book off of his table and read for an hour until classes started.

Rosa heard a bell go off in the house at precisely eight in the morning. It was loud and ear piercing, much like a normal school bell. She was walking through the hallways yet always seemed to end up at another dead end. When the bell rang, Rosa's hell began. Kids of all ages with various mutations made their way through the hallway, practically ignoring Rosa's existence. They twisted around her, some flied above the crowd, but they all seemed to know where the were going. Rosa assumed school for them was starting and decided to make her way to a corner of a hallway until the halls were empty. They emptied quickly and Rosa tried once again to find her room. Instead she found Charles sitting on a couch, intently reading a book with Raven lying next to him. She could see her head on his lap as she stayed in human form. Rosa watched in content.

Have you eaten?

Rosa shook her head no, feeling Charles poke around in her head. Before he could say anything else, she pushed him and and continued on her way. She soon came to the front door, a large heavy wooden door with a series of intricate designs. She reached for the handle and sheepishly pushed it open with force.

It was bright and warm outside. She saw a handful of kids on the yard in front of the mansion, playing with a series of training instruments that fitted their mutation. A small pond lay not too far off from where Rosa was standing. It was past the kids, and past the field, but she walked to it quietly.

The water was cold, Rosa realized after dipping her fingertips in. She sat down in the warm grass, remembering that she still did not have a change of clothes. She waded her fingers through the cool water, watching koi and ducks make their way around in the water. Her eyes glistened with happiness. Where she used to live, there was no grass, trees, or beauty. She found beauty in nothing there, but here there was beauty in the simplest of things.

She felt a prick on her thumb and lifted it out of the water to see a small leech hanging onto her skin. At once, she lifted it off of herself, and decided to lift all of the other leeches out of the water. They floated upwards through the murky liquid, black and squirming for the water. Rosa looked over to the vast trees in front of her as well as a large satellite, and practically flung them away until she saw no more. Now, the water could be useful to anyone with water mutations. Unless of course, the mansion had a pool somewhere.

For half an hour Rosa played in the pond and observed the life. While she sat, she heard the shouting of happy kids behind her as the played with toys and showed off their skills to each other. She heard the satellite above her start to shift. Her eyes looked in bewilderment as it shifted to face her. It made an eery creaking sound that hurt her ears so she covered them and watched as the water full of life in front of her moved and swayed. A low rumble sounded in the Earth as the satellite turned. Eventually it stopped, and Rosa turned behind herself to see Erik and Charles standing together on the house properties. Charles, from a distance, looked extremely proud while Erik smiled gleefully in a gray sweatshirt and sweatpants. Rosa smiled upon seeing both of them genuinely smile, and returned to her pond watching.

Hours later, she heard footsteps behind her. The sun was going down and she realized she had spent the entire day outside, enjoying nature. She turned to see Erik's familiar face as he walked and sat down next to her.

"You've been out here all day," he said softly, observing Rosa's expression. "You don't need to hide from everyone you know, we're all just like you."

"It's not that. I've never experienced nature like this," Rosa replied. She brought her pruned fingers out of the depths of the water and wiped them on the grass. Erik made himself comfortable and lay down on the grass, crossing his arms behind his head. He closed his eyes, feeling the sun on his body. He didn't feel like being here, but an order from Charles to make the skinny girl feel comfortable forced him outside. Erik would much rather be inside with a glass of beer in his hands, maybe a picture of his enemy to gloom over.

Rosa realized that Erik wasn't listening to her a few minutes after she started speaking about what her old life was like. His eyes were closed, he was in his own world. Rosa crossed her legs and placed her moist hands in her lap. She was used to no one listening. Meanwhile Erik dreamt of Raven and her place in his life in the future. She was with Charles, she loved Charles but Charles didn't understand her. Not how Erik understood her. Soon, he found himself dreaming and memories of his childhood crept into his mind.

Rosa continued watching the water until she noticed Erik shaking next to her. She watched him curiously, as his arms moved back and forth furiously in front of him. His voice sounded in the back of his throat until he opened his mouth and screamed loudly. Rosa, in a rush, leaned over him. She placed her hand on her chest and held it there, transferring her feelings of beauty and happiness into his veins. Her energy was low and she felt it being drained out of her while Erik's muscles relaxed. His eyes fluttered open to see Rosa over him. He felt her hand on his chest and looked into her eyes feeling memories of happiness wrack his brain. A tear fell from his cheeks while remembering the brightest of memories involving his mother, as well as Charles. Above him, he met Rosa's eyes with his own and looked into them, seeing the memories of his mother start to fade. Erik watched Rosa carefully, turning his head as his body reached a state of ecstasy. Erik watched Rosa's eyes start to close but made no movement. He lay still, feeling her cold fingers send pulse after pulse of pure happiness and beauty throughout his body. Suddenly, it stopped. Erik no longer felt happiness reaching through to him but was instead left with an impermanent feeling of pure contentment. Without noticing it, Rosa's hand had left his chest and she had fallen over onto the grass, her eyes closed and her lips blue.


End file.
